New meteor shower to peak this weekend

A never-before-seen meteor shower could provide a free show above all the holiday weekend activities.

The May Camelopardalids are expected to streak through the sky beginning Friday night and last into Saturday morning.

The meteors are a result of the Earth hurtling through the dust of comet 209P/LINEAR, which was discovered in 2004 and dates back to the 1800s. The Earth has never before passed through the comet's dust.

Though scientists are unsure how grand the Memorial Day weekend meteor shower will be, they say it could give sky-watchers a show that rivals the Perseid meteor showers in August.

Prime viewing time on the West Coast will be between 11 p.m. Friday and 1 a.m. Saturday. The moon will not be a factor: It's a waning crescent, and it won't rise until 3:20 a.m.

"Some forecasters have predicted a meteor storm of more than 200 meteors per hour," NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office lead Bill Cooke said in a statement. "We have no idea what the comet was doing in the 1800s. The parent comet doesn't appear to be very active now, so there could be a great show, or there could be little activity."

The event's name refers to the constellation Camelopardalis, the giraffe, but meteors will be seen in all areas of the sky.